


The Far Side of The Universe

by My_Trex_has_fleas



Series: Light and Dark [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, Grey Jedi, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rim Wars, Smuggling, The Force, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 14:04:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11232558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_Trex_has_fleas/pseuds/My_Trex_has_fleas
Summary: Part Two of the Light and Dark series and the sequel to The Ends Of The Stars.





	The Far Side of The Universe

The man slithered through the darkness hunting like an animal and using his sense of smell and hearing to track his prey. He had no comprehension of time as he cared little for it, only of survival and achieving his ends, and it was something that he was now supremely good at. He’d been tortured and starved to the point of emaciation, but he’d held strong. Now he was largely left alone, having affected a reputation for violence even among those that called themselves the Knights of Ren and that meant those that occupied this forgotten corner of the galaxy gave him a wide berth and preferred to forget he even existed. 

He no longer held any authority here, but neither was he consciously hunted out for any purpose. Snoke was under the impression that he’d long since gone mad, driven there by his own hand. What he couldn’t know was that Kylo had been anything but for the first time in his life. And so he scratched out a living under the fortress of stone that he was imprisoned in and waited and watched.

A movement caught his eye and Kylo was quick to capitalise on it. There were animals down here, medium sized rodents with whispery tendrils around their chins to help them find food in the dark and they were palatable enough. They provided him with enough food to remain in good health, although he was careful to make sure he seemed ill and weak. It made his subterfuge that much easier. What Snoke had not known, had never known, was that Kylo was used to this. His mind had been fractured when Snoke had first come to him, the inevitable effect of too small a mind trying to accommodate two conscious beings in the one space. It was how he’d evaded detection by his uncle and mother when he was a teenager, letting them feel and see the one side of his mind that was Ben’s and hiding the part that was Kylo’s. When Snoke had taken over he’d simply assumed control of all of it and if he’d discovered that there were any divisions in Kylo’s consciousness, he must have assumed they were put there by Luke to protect him. He hadn’t known they were Kylo’s own construction. 

Added to that was the work he’d done with Kasha and Sudaka in which they’d helped him strengthen his mental defences to keep Snoke out should he try to regain his control of Kylo. They had decided that it would be a good tactic and they had been proven right. Now Kylo could let Snoke rummage around in his head and still maintain a perfect compartmentalisation of what he wanted Snoke to see and that which he kept hidden. He was starting to realise just how much Snoke had been using his power, and how little of his own Snoke actually possessed. It would have been laughable if it hadn’t been so maddening.

Kylo smiled to himself as the movement came again and threw the stone with a strike that was almost too quick to track. He didn’t use the Force while he was awake anymore, not wanting Snoke to catch wind of anything amiss with his disguise. Instead he fell back on hunting physically and doing things with his hands, something that had made his muscles strong and his body wiry. He’d learned to hunt using his natural senses, finely honed by necessity. His weapons were now rocks and sharpened sticks and snares and traps made from salvaged wire and machine components while his lightsaber still hung from Snoke’s belt. Kylo had more than enough components to build a new one, but he would need a crystal and that was not the only hurdle. He did not want to hold another light saber, knowing that one he’d made with Hux was the only one he’d ever wield again 

The occupants of this fortress were not all Knights. Smugglers came and went and did business with Snoke. Occasionally ships landed and never departed again and there was a graveyard of them out on the barren ground that surrounded the fortress. He now went out there almost every night, scavenging and bringing back things to his little subterranean lair. 

The rock hit true and the rodent fell dead. Kylo straightened up and walked over to it, picking it up and sticking it in the bag that he carried. He slung the bag across his back and picked up the staff that he used for self-defence and started walking back to the huge monolithic building that loomed up out of the darkness.

Of course, the irony of all this did not escape him.

It took a while to get to the crack in the fortress foundations that allowed him to squeeze through and make his way into the levels that lay under the building. It was cold and damp, but Kylo ignored the physical discomfort. Snoke had done unspeakable things to him when he’d first arrived here, things that had made Kylo scream and cry like a child as he writhed in agony. He’d never broken, although he’d allowed Snoke to think that he had. Snoke’s disgust had been like the sweetest wine to him as Kylo had realised his ruse had worked and since that day, Snoke had discarded him like so much refuse and allowed him to creep about unmolested, convinced by Kylo’s pretence that he’d lost any semblance of sanity. 

He walked through the maze of passages, now very comfortable at navigating in the dark. When he got to the long forgotten corridor lined with cells, he stopped and titled his head to listen. Satisfied that he was not being followed, Kylo went to the last door on the left and the only one with a light flashing in the locking mechanism. It had taken him a while to bring in enough fuel cells, but now he had enough to power what he needed including being able to lock his door. 

The light flashed green when Kylo keyed in the code and slid open. Inside it was a crowded mass of parts and equipment, the bunk lined with stolen blankets. He closed the door and locked it from inside, dumped the rodent on a low wooden bench next to the door then started to disrobe. He’d been given clothes to replace the ones he’d been wearing. They were similar to the robes all acolytes wore when they arrived for training, long loose pants and a simple shirt. The boots had come from a dead pilot in one of the derelict ships as had the utility belt, and the cowl was from an unwary acolyte that had taken a wrong turn on some errand that had sent him down into the lower levels. Kylo knew that Snoke wasn’t particularly concerned with the acolytes, many of whom were little better than slaves, and he’d killed the man without a second thought when he’d found him poking around where he didn’t belong. 

Kylo fished out a couple of nutrient packs from a crate, also salvaged from another ship, and took them to his bunk. He pulled off his boots and slumped down, ignoring the smell of his unwashed body and the robes that he wore day in and day out. They were filthy, crusted with muck and his own sweat, but it was all part of the facade he needed to maintain. He broke the seals on the nutrient packs, the heating gel inside the lining reacting and making the mush inside at least reasonably palatable. The rodent would need to be prepared but he was hungry now and tired from a night of scouting around. This fortress was one of many he now knew, Snoke’s tentacles extending far across the galaxy. This little planet in the Unknown Regions was one he’d never visited, but Snoke was using it as some sort of training facility for his acolytes.

After he’d finished eating, Kylo cleaned his hands off on his robes and chucked the empty packs into another crate full of refuse. Then he lay down and closed his eyes.

He had an appointment to keep. 

***********

The ships dropped out of hyperspace and flew in formation towards the small unoccupied planet. They were a series of YT class freighters and on first inspection seemed to be some sort of commercial convoy, but that was not the case. The one at the rear was a YT-1000, an older ship but beautifully maintained and stuffed full of modifications that had been made by her owner and pilot. He’d had a lot of time on his hands and it had been a good way to occupy his time and stop him from going mad as the galaxy exploded into chaos and disorder around him. Well, more than usual anyway. All of this had been observed with interest and no small amount of humour by the woman that currently piloted the ship. She had changed a lot in the six standard galactic months that she’d been first mate. 

‘Mitaka.’ she said and the man behind her sitting in the navigator’s chair jumped a little. He was still of a nervous disposition and Phasma secretly enjoyed tormenting him. Her sense of humour ran as black as a reach of empty space and he was so easy to wind up. ‘Go and wake Hux up and tell him we’re here.’

‘Why do I have to do it?’ Mitaka asked, a hint of a whine in his voice. Phasma turned around and fixed him with a single glance of her deep blue eyes and he got up without a word and left the cockpit on his errand. Phasma turned back to the controls and chuckled to herself. She no longer wore a captain’s rank, but she’d not lost her authoritarian bearing and enjoyed using it. 

There was a soft mew at her feet and Phasma looked down to see Millicent circling her ankles. She reached down and gathered the cat up into her arms and Millicent settled into her lap as Phasma nuzzled the soft fur at the back of her head. Millicent, like herself, had adapted remarkably well to life aboard this little ship. Phasma had commandeered one of the storage holds and turned it into her own accommodations, refusing to sleep in the one of the crew bunks built into the bulkhead in the communal living area as Mitaka seemed happy to do. 

Making a living as a smuggler, even one that was a cover for what they were really up to, had proven to be remarkably lucrative and Phasma had discovered a surprisingly hedonistic side to herself that she’d never known even existed. It had helped that she was now involved in a rather torrid affair with the captain of one of the other ships in their little convoy and Adaoma had opened her eyes to the possibilities that a life outside the First Order had to offer. Her compartment now bore closer resemblance to a bordello than to a room aboard ship. Phasma had discovered that she adored soft furnishings of the more exotic variety and now had the means to pay for them, along with a variety of weapons that adorned her walls. 

The comm sounded and she leaned forward and answered the transmission with a knowing smile as she recognised the sender’s signature. 

‘So.’ The voice on the other side was smoky and suggestive. ‘Kasha said we’re going to orbit for a few hours. You want to come over and play?’ Phasma’s smile nearly split her face in half.

‘Maybe we should wait until we’ve actually done what we came here to do.’ she replied and Adaoma snorted on the other side. 

‘You’re far too devoted to your mission.’ she said. 

‘You know me.’ Phasma replied with a suggestive tone. ‘All about the mission.’

‘Well I am all about having those gorgeous thighs wrapped around my head.’ Adaoma purred. ‘And listening to you curse in three different languages while I fuck you with my tongue.’ 

Phasma laughed and then heard Mitaka come back in. She cut the comm turned and saw he was looking mildly scandalised. It was a look that had somewhat softened since the first time he’d overheard a less than innocent conversation between her and the woman she now called her lover. 

‘Where’s the General?’ she asked and he made a face. 

‘Sleeping.’ he said.

‘Ah.’ Phasma replied.

********

Hux wasn’t sleeping, at least not in the traditional sense.

He was standing on a ledge of rock, looking down over the snowy forest that was now set ablaze below them. It was cold, the flakes settling on his shoulders and eyelashes and irritating him. Next to him Kylo smiled and watched as he brushed them off his coat. 

‘Why do you still wear it?’ he asked and Hux looked at him. Kylo no longer wore the robes he’d worn as Snoke’s enforcer. Instead he was in simple smuggler’s clothes like the ones he’d been wearing the day he was taken, except they were all in black. His hair was longer and he now had a scattering of patchy facial hair. Hux had laughed himself silly when he saw it the first time, but the laughter had faded when he had tracked the progression of changes over their separation. Kylo was thinner, no spare fat on him at all, and his somewhat unkempt appearance made him look dangerous. He refused to answer any of Hux’s questions as to what was happening to him, simply said that it was necessary for their plan to work. Hux knew he was lying but he was powerless to do anything and Kylo was so stubborn he wouldn’t have listened to him anyway.

‘I don’t know.’ he answered. ‘Habit?’

‘You’re not him anymore.’ Kylo was smiling and it was so serene that Hux actually felt a little disturbed by it. ‘You haven’t been him for a long time. The Force moves through you so naturally now, it’s almost like he never existed.’ 

‘Nonsense.’ Hux snorted. ‘It’s just that this makes it easier for people to trust me and give me what I want.’ Kylo chuckled and walked over to him, his dark eyes full of love. Hux could feel it flowing out of him and his heart sped up in response. He raised his hand and cupped Kylo’s cheek. ‘I miss you.’

‘I miss you too.’ Kylo replied. ‘But we will be reunited soon.’

‘So you keep saying.’ Hux replied. ‘I’m starting to grow impatient.’

‘He’s up to something.’ Kylo said. ‘There have been ships I don’t recognise coming in and bringing things. Crates and parts.’ He sighed and stroked Hux’s hair out of his eyes. ‘I can feel that there is a disturbance in the Force. We just have to wait a little longer.’

‘It’s getting harder to keep your mother off my back.’ Hux said. They were now so close and he felt longing fill him as he breathed in Kylo’s smell and counted the scattering of dark stars that spotted his skin. ‘She’s bloody determined. I can see where you get your stubbornness from.’ 

Kylo smiled. 

‘You must frustrate her so much.’ One arm was now stealing around Hux’s waist and pulling him in close. ‘I would love to be able to see that.’ He leaned in, nosing at Hux gently. ‘Watching how you two try to outmanoeuvre each other.’ 

‘She’s not without her challenges, but she is a very good strategist.’ Hux said grudgingly. 

‘Mmmm.’ Kylo’s eyes were now warm and looking at Hux intently. ‘I’m sure.’ His breath ghosted over Hux’s mouth. ‘Although I’m sure we have better things to do than discuss my mother.’ 

‘We do.’ Hux didn’t fight the smile that came and when Kylo kissed him, he let himself fall into it. He lifted his hand and slid his fingers through the dark tangles. Kylo sighed into his mouth and Hux felt the shiver that ran through him. They separated and he stroked the backs of his fingers over Kylo’s face, then traced the scar that ran across it with his forefinger. 

‘Soon.’ Kylo said and caught his hand, pressing it flat against his face again. ‘Just a little longer.’

‘Just promise you’ll be careful.’ Hux replied. 

‘I’ll try.’ Kylo said and kissed him again.

************

A few hours later, the ships came down and landed in a stretch of open grassland. Inside the Falcon, Rey cut the engines and looked at Poe. He raised one dark eyebrow at her.

‘Still think this is a wild yannock chase.’ he said. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be following them so blindly.’

‘Luke thinks they’re on the level.’ she said. ‘And we need their help, Poe.’

‘No we don’t.’ Poe said. ‘We were doing fine before them.’

‘Maybe you were.’ Rey said. ‘But I think we can all agree that Finn and I would not have progressed as far as we have without their help.’ 

‘I don’t know how much help they have been.’ Poe grumbled. He turned and looked up when a familiar face peered into the cockpit. 

‘We going out?’ Finn asked and Rey got up from the pilot’s chair. 

‘Chewie still sleeping?’ she asked and Finn nodded. He waited for Rey to walk past him and then fell into step with her. 

‘So what do you think?’ he asked. Rey shrugged. 

‘Well, if there’s anything on this planet that will help us you can bet it’s probably going to take ages to find.’ she said. Finn made a face and they went through to the main passenger area. The droids were already waiting there. R2 beeped and Rey shook her head. 

‘No.’ she said. ‘You’re all staying here with the ship and Poe. This is Jedi only business.’ She grinned at Finn and he returned it. ‘He’ll keep you entertained.’ BB-8 whistled and immediately set off down towards the cockpit and they went to the door ramp and she hit the controls to lower it. 

They walked down and into air that was cool and thick with the smells of grass and flowers. Rey’s face lit up and Finn smiled at her. She was still learning so much and the novelty of a planet full of green had not lost its power to make her smile. He reached out and took her hand and she pinked up under her freckles. 

‘Not here.’ she said and Finn laughed and pulled her in, kissing her and ignoring her protests. 

A lot had happened in six months.

***********

‘They’re kissing again.’ Mitaka sounded morose as he stared out the cockpit viewport. Phasma snorted and adjusted her bandolier, then slung her blaster rifle across her back. ‘All they bloody do is kiss.’

‘They’re in love, Dopheld.’ Phasma said, coming to peer over his shoulder. ‘That’s what people in love do.’

‘It’s nauseating.’ Mitaka grumbled. ‘Why can’t they kiss out of sight?’

‘You know what you need?’ Phasma said. ‘You need some strapping Mandalorian to come and court you and show you the errors of thinking that love is nauseating.’ 

‘Stars, no.’ Mitaka hissed. ‘And I’ll thank you not to give him ideas.’ Phasma laughed, deep and hearty. She was finding Ferrik’s rather odd efforts to court the normally placid Mitaka extremely amusing.

‘Well, I’m going to scout around while they’re hacking their way through that.’ she said, nodding at the thick jungle in front of them. ‘Keep an eye on the ship.’

‘Yes, Captain.’ Mitaka said. He hadn’t ever been able to bring himself to call her Phasma. She grinned and left the cockpit, heading down towards the rear of the ship and Hux’s cabin. She got to the door and requested entry. A few seconds later the door slid open and she went in. She’d only visited Hux’s quarters aboard the Finalizer a few times, but they had been spartan and tidy to the point of obsessiveness. Nothing had changed. 

Millicent lay on the neatly made bunk, her paws tucked under her chest as she watched Hux pull on his jacket and then extend a hand, his lightsabre flying from where it lay on the desk to smack into his palm. He latched it to his belt and looked at Phasma, catching the smile she was now wearing. 

‘Stop that.’ he said and she shrugged.

‘It’s just so strange seeing you do that.’ she replied. ‘You can’t expect me to not get the maximum amusement out of it, while I can.’

‘I know.’ Hux replied, looking sour as he gave himself a quick once over in the mirror on the inside of the locker door.

Phasma decided not to comment on that last little residual bit of vanity he had. She could be sensitive to how far she could push him, and this was one thing that really got under his skin so she allowed it. 

‘Quite frankly this whole thing is ridiculous. I don’t understand what we’re doing here at all. It’s not like they couldn’t have come by themselves.’ The disdain with which Hux said the word they made Phasma chuckle. 

‘It’s probably safer to be here, than back there with the Alliance and your prospective mother-in-law.’ she replied and Hux glared at her. He stomped past and she followed him from the cabin. 

‘We have a summit to plan and a treaty to negotiate.’ he grumbled. ‘I should be in the Outer Rim helping Oluru, not gallivanting around some back water planet looking for a mystical Jedi holocron that may or may not exist because Skywalker thinks that it may or may not be the key to defeating Snoke.’ He was striding down the passageway, Phasma keeping up with him easily. ‘We should be looking for a way to take the fight to him, and that can only come if all the factions work together.’

Phasma eyed him. In the past six months, Hux had grown into something quite extraordinary. No longer constrained by Snoke’s authority, he had been taken in as one of Oluru’s counsel. A strong and powerful ruler in her own right, she had taken the opportunity of having the benefit of Hux’s inside knowledge and used it to give herself the advantage over their enemy. 

Unfortunately this had not gone down well with Leia and the rest of the Rebel Alliance at all. Many there wanted Hux’s head, to execute him for the Hosnian Genocide and the many war crimes that had been committed both by him directly and as a consequence of the order he had given while General of the First Order. The fact that the Grey Jedi had intervened and quite categorically stated that there would be no execution had not sat well with many on the Council and Leia was having a hard time justifying why they were all still alive and free to go about their business. 

It was clear that they had grown to have a grudging respect for each other though, Hux acknowledging that Leia was a master strategist and that her experience far outweighed his own, while Leia had come to realise that Hux was nothing short of brilliant when it came to devising plans of attack and making use of the meagre resources the Rebellion had. It had become the oddest marriage of convenience anyone could remember in the history of the galaxy, but it was working. They had had more than a few victories against the Order and Snoke’s rather heavy handed attempts to thwart them. 

The fact that Hux was bonded to her errant son was another matter entirely. Phasma grinned as she remembered that particular little revelation coming to light. Leia had managed to clear an entire conference room with her shouting. She had been livid, in spite of the fact that she had known that Hux and Kylo were together. It had been Luke’s confirmation that bonding was a lifelong condition that had made her so angry as she’d been hoping for a reversal. 

And that was the other thing, the one that was the strangest thing to come to grips with. Phasma had never been intimidated by Ren. She had respected his skills as a warrior and his power had impressed her, but Hux had been different. Now he wielded the same powers as Ren did, his use of the Force at odds with the man she had known and fought under for the past five years. This Hux was still calm under pressure and steely eyed but there was something else as well, a softening at his edges that came when he spoke about Ren in a way she’d never expected to hear from his mouth. She knew that they were bonded and that they spoke to one another through the Force, but what she hadn’t anticipated was how clear-eyed and serene Hux became whenever he had done so, almost like Ren rebalanced him. 

‘They would not have asked you to come if they did not need your help, Hux.’ she said. ‘So you go in and get whatever this is and then we can get back to where we are needed.’

‘You will make sure everything here is well?’ Hux asked and she nodded. 

‘Nothing gets past me, General.’ she replied with a half-smile and patted her rifle. 

They descended from the ship’s ramp and Phasma went to stand just beyond the ship, lifting her head and listening carefully. There was nothing but silence and the sounds of nature. It disturbed her. 

Hux made his way past her and headed for the Kyari. Phasma spotted Kasha coming down the ramp and went to make her first round.

********

Hux met Kasha halfway and nodded in greeting. She was dressed for bush work, her copper hair tied up. 

‘You look better.’ she said. ‘You spoke to Kylo last night?’

‘I did.’ Hux replied. ‘He said that something is up at the fortress. Ships have been coming and going. He’s going to try and sneak in and see what he can find out.’

‘Good.’ Kasha said. ‘And hopefully what we find today will give us something we can actually use.’ She looked across at where the other Jedi were now assembled. ‘All this adventuring is starting to annoy me.’

‘That is because you have no patience, larla.’ Corvis said, coming from the Kyari to stand by them. He gave Hux a grin and a mocking salute. ‘General.’

‘Corvis.’ Hux replied. He looked past him to the ship. ‘Where is Eldrine?’

‘Consulting with Bhutara about plant samples.’ Corvis said. ‘Bhutara’s giving her shopping list.’

‘For kriff’s sake.’ Hux rolled his eyes. ‘Can we just get a bloody move in?’ They all turned as the three figures approached them. Luke was in front, Rey and Finn behind him. Like him, they now wore Jedi robes in shades of brown and beige, their newly completed lightsabers hanging from their belts and their traditional Paduwan braids in place. 

Hux restrained his urge to sneer at them. Their earnest self-righteousness grated at him, as he knew it did at Kasha as well. Only Eldrine was immune. In fact the Grey Elder and Skywalker got on particularly well. 

‘Kasha.’ Luke said as they got to them. ‘Good morning.’

‘Luke.’ Kasha smiled back at him, but Hux could feel the wariness in her. She hadn’t spent her life on the fringes of the Rim and amongst smugglers to trust easily, although he had to wonder why that had been the case with him and Kylo. ‘We are waiting for Eldrine and then we can go. You have any idea of where we start looking?’

‘I have some directions but they are vague.’ Luke replied. ‘The text that I translated had many pieces missing.’

‘Just point us in the direction then.’ Hux snarked, delighting in the glares he got from Rey and Finn. Before when he was general of the First Order, he would never have stooped to such childish behaviour (alright, maybe once or twice with Kylo but that had been more than justified) but now it was like he no longer gave a kriff what anyone thought of him. He’d had his life turned so far upside down there was nothing that really meant anything to him apart from obliterating Snoke and the Order and showing up those smirking idiots he’d been landed with working with. Six months was a long time to think and Hux had done an awful lot of thinking. 

Luke drew himself up, his blue eyes stern and his face grave and looked past Hux and Kasha. 

‘Master Eldrine.’ he said and the warmth in his voice was genuine.

‘Master Luke.’ Eldrine rumbled as she came down the ramp. She looked at the assembled group. ‘No stand offs yet?’

‘It’s still early.’ Luke replied and now there was a little bite of sarcasm. ‘Shall we?’

‘Keep an eye on the ship.’ Kasha hissed at Corvis. ‘And don’t let Dameron anywhere near it.’ She was not best pleased at the unexpected friendship that had struck up between them. But then Hux had long since realised that scoundrels seemed to enjoy each other’s company. 

‘Whatever you say, my love.’ Corvis replied and grinned unrepentantly. 

**********

Another hour later and they were stuck in the middle of some of the thickest jungle Hux had ever seen, although if he was being honest his experience was limited. Still, he was used to the forests of Arkanis and the thick tangled undergrowth and this was very similar, just sweatier and far more annoying. Even the Light Jedi were struggling, their usual optimism wilting just like they were in the heat. 

‘Kriff this.’ Kasha was now verging on hacking everything around her with her lightsaber. ‘We’ve been walking for ages and nothing. I think we need to start taking a more direct approach.’

‘We’ve meditated on this.’ Luke said. ‘And the Force is flowing strongly in this direction.’

‘He is correct.’ Eldrine said. As the largest of the group she was making better progress through the vegetation. ‘I feel it just as strongly.’ 

‘So do we all.’ Kasha said. ‘But I think we could use some help on this.’ Eldrine frowned and then her face smoothed out as she realised what Kasha was referring to. 

‘You think she would know?’ she asked and Kasha shrugged. 

‘It doesn’t hurt to ask.’ she said. 

‘Who is she talking about?’ Rey asked. This was directed at Luke and Luke was looking at Kasha with curiosity.

‘I would also like to know.’ he said and now Kasha’s smile was ever so slightly smug. 

‘Maybe you would and maybe you wouldn’t.’ she said. ‘The thing is that she kind of travelled most of the galaxy. If anyone would know if we’re on the right track, it would be her.’

‘Then do it.’ Eldrine said. Kasha nodded and looked around. There was a flat rock not too far from them and she went to go sit on it. The others watched her as she folded herself into a cross legged position and closed her eyes, settling in to her meditative state. Hux could feel the Force rippling around her and taking on a smooth calm feeling, different to her normal fiery energy. Luke sighed and moved to a fallen log, sitting down and looking at Eldrine as she came to sit next to him. 

‘Who is she contacting?’ he asked and Eldrine smiled. 

‘Her mother.’ she replied. ‘You knew her I believe.’

‘Mara Jade?’ Luke nodded. “I did meet her a few times, when she was still the Hand.’ He nodded at Kasha. ‘I would be very interested in hearing her story one day.’

‘Give her time and she may tell you.’ Eldrine said. 

‘She doesn’t trust me.’ Luke replied. He looked pointedly at Hux. ‘Neither do you.’

‘I have reason not to.’ Hux replied, folding his arms. 

‘Leia’s the only person keeping you from being executed.’ Rey shot across the clearing. ‘Maybe you should.’

‘The General is every bit as calculating as I am.’ Hux replied. ‘She’s not Ren’s mother for nothing and he certainly didn’t get his cunning from that blundering idiot that he called his father.’ He did it to get a reaction of course and they didn’t disappoint. Rey’s dark eyes flashed angrily and Finn stepped up, as he often did. 

‘You need to apologise for that.’ he said and Hux smiled arrogantly at him.

‘Or what?’ he asked. ‘You have no authority over me…trooper.’ 

‘Enough!’ It was a low growl but the effect was immediate. Finn took a step back and Hux immediately shut his mouth. Eldrine was a fair master, but she wasn’t afraid to set limits and make sure they all stuck to them. 

‘Will you lot shut up?’ Kasha said from across the clearing. ‘Mara says that you’re like a bunch of bickering children.’ She opened her eyes. ‘She’s been here before.’

‘She has?’ Luke stood up. ‘I’m surprised she’s willing to help us.’

‘Only because it’s me asking.’ Kasha said with a grin. ‘She’s not particularly well disposed towards you, I’ll have you know.’ There was a glint in her amber eyes that spoke of amusement. ‘And you didn’t tell me that you were that well acquainted.’ 

It took a moment for them all to get to the same page, but when they did Luke had the grace to look a little embarrassed. 

‘It was very brief.’ he replied. 

‘Brief or not, she was very complimentary about certain things.’ Kasha replied. ‘She says you look old though.’

‘It happens.’ Luke replied. ‘One of the side effects when your nephew kills off your entire class of Paduwan.’ 

Hux watched this, fascinated. The relationship between Luke and Kasha was an odd one. Kasha clearly had respect for him, once of the reasons Hux actually tolerated Ren’s absentee uncle. But at the same time she tended to hold herself equal to him and never took his words at face value, challenging him constantly. They both deferred to Eldrine, which was natural given her seniority over Kasha and Luke knew that the Elder Jedi far outstripped him in experience, something that made Hux feel hugely smug when he pointed out that she was his master and he her apprentice. 

‘Maybe he wouldn’t have turned if you’d been watching.’ Kasha snapped and there it was. The antagonism that was also a hallmark of their interactions. Kasha was protective of Ren, even in his absence, and she frequently defended him. She got up and hopped off the rock and then took her lightsaber from her belt, igniting it. 

‘What are you doing?’ Eldrine asked. Kasha grinned at her and pointed in a different direction to the one they had been travelling in. 

‘That way.’ she said then proceeded to start hacking her way through the jungle. Hux and Eldrine exchanged a look and followed her. Hux grinned as he heard the Light Jedi grumbling about the sanctity of alien life.

Another hour later and they found themselves standing in front of a massive stone temple. Hux had heard of Jedi temples in his lessons with Eldrine. His interest in history had brought out the best in her teachings and they had spent many happy hours together with her recounting stories to him from times long past. They were at the top of the steps that lead up to the enormous doorway. It as however sealed, the two stone doors refusing to budge. 

‘May I suggest we band together for this one.’ Eldrine rumbled, one giant paw against the doors. ‘Otherwise we’ll be here quite a bit longer than we choose to.’ There were several  
suspicious glances thrown around. 

One of the things they had been working on in their training was co-operation. It had long since transpired that Kylo hadn’t been the only one to have a vision of them all defeating Snoke. Rey had had them too and Luke was taking it as a sign that they needed to overcome their differences and work together for the common good of the galaxy. Of course, that was easier said than done. 

There was some general grumbling as they all assembled themselves into a line and Eldrine looked down the row to Luke who was at the other end. 

‘Together.’ she said and they all raised their right hands, arms outstretched. Hux inhaled deeply, calling on the Force that now worked through him as easily as if he was commanding a physical army to do his bidding. He shut his eyes and drew on his power, letting it coalesce and then flow out of him and into the stone doors. Even as he did, he could feel the others around him, and could tell each of them individually. 

His own power was a contradiction. It was controlled and yet not. It simmered just underneath the surface like his anger and feelings always had until he could harness them. He’d never thought that the passion he’d always tried to suppress would be his greatest ally in learning control and yet it had. Now it flowed and rippled around him like a lava flow and at the same time it was overlaid with a veneer of ice. 

Next to him, Kasha was all instinct and reaction. Hux had been told by Eldrine on more than one occasion that it was why she had chosen Kylo as her apprentice. They were so alike, their sheer ability sometimes raging out of control although she was far better at mastering it than Kylo was. She manipulated the Force with complete ease, shaping it and allowing her passion to create strength that dwarfed his own. 

Eldrine was different still. She was the inevitable and nothing could stand before her. Her power was underscored by deep sadness though, her losses over the centuries making her able to endure. Hux had been sad for her at first until she had shown him that far below the sadness was an even deeper joy. Her love of all things around her and her complete harmony with the Force was her power and she used it with precision that made him green with envy. Together their powers combined to produce something quite extraordinary and even as Hux opened his eyes, he saw the stone doors starting to shift. 

But that of course meant he could see the others that worked with them. And as much as it irked him, Hux now knew it was necessary. They were the balance, they were the ones that made it possible for them to take on the greatest power in the galaxy and stand a chance of winning. 

Luke was awesome in the steady aura pf peace and calm that he radiated. Hux had to have a grudging respect for him, amazed at how he was able to remove himself and become completely inured to all the distractions around him. One either side of him, Rey and Finn’s purity and goodness was blinding, the Force responding to them in a way that made it light and graceful and more than a little beautiful to witness. 

It also made him feel a little sick.

Kasha felt it and gave him a sidelong look, a small quirk of his mouth telling him she was in cahoots. Hux responded in kind. Then he redoubled his efforts, refusing to let a bunch of Light Jedi outshine him. 

The doors dragged open with a sound that was earsplitting. When they reached the farthest arc of their angle, Hux let the power recede from his mind. He was sweating, but then so was everyone else.

In front of them another set of steps descended into the gloom. They all moved to the top step and looked down into the dark. The air smelt unpleasant, like a lot of things had died down there. Eldrine looked at him and Hux took his illuminator from his belt and switched it on. He also took the precaution of unclipping his lightsaber and igniting it, the orange glow adding to the beam of light that showed that the steps went down very far indeed. The sound of other sabers made him turn. Eldrine and Kasha had theirs at the ready and moved to flank him. Rey had her new double sided saber with its white blades in her hands, Finn’s own saber the same green as his master’s. 

‘After you.’ Luke said to him and Hux nodded and took the first step down into the unknown.

**Author's Note:**

> Updates will be monthly (i hope).


End file.
